English Dub Review: Sweet Reincarnation “Dreaming of a Land of Sweets/The Patissier and the Fief’s Defense Line”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Dreaming of a Land of Sweets

Meet Pastry Mille Morteln, a young man who is the reincarnation of a patissier from Earth who died in a tragic candy sculpture accident. He dreams of making sweets again, even though he lives in a medieval society where sweeteners are a rare luxury.

The Patissier and the Fief’s Defense Line

Bandits are closing in on Pastry’s fief, and his father can only round up peasant conscripts to try and fight them off. Pastry and his friends decide to try and do what’s in their power to help everyone, even though they’re just kids.

Our Take:

I hope you save enough room in your stomach because we got another fantasy treat to savor our hunger for isekai-related content. Even better, it added a surprise doubleheader with the first two episodes debuting instead of one. Talk about having two cakes and eating them, too. However, based on the concept I read, this seemed to be another series from the overused genre that focuses more on a peaceful hobby outside of slaying monsters and demon lords. I already have my hands covered with an ongoing farming isekai show, so why not add a food-related one to the mixture? The plot alone piqued my curiosity due to Japan’s satisfaction with showcasing its delicious cuisines in anime form and my intrigue with food. But how was its first impression execution-wise? Honestly, it got a decent flavor with plenty of room to improve its taste.

The first episode starts with another main character facing a tragic death in the modern world, with a famous sweetmaker getting crushed by his candy statue. Afterward, he gets reincarnated by a goddess into a medieval realm, where he’s born Pastry Mille Morteln, the son of minor lord Casserole and his wife, Agnes. Yes, some of these characters are named after food, and I won’t be surprised if we see more of them with food names later.  

This new life would’ve allowed Pastry to make his dream of creating a “land of sweets” a reality. However, this new world comes with a few catches. Pastry’s family’s farmlands can only produce wheat and barley, and anything sugar-related is a rare luxury. Then, Casserole has Pastry undergo Sanctification, a religious ceremony that’ll help him unlock the powers needed to help his family defend their farms from bandits. Fortunately for Pastry, the capital where the Sanctification takes place has plenty of fruits and exotic foods he could use to achieve his desire.

The second episode then has Pastry organizing a defensive team after gaining an ability called Replication from the ceremony. The reason is that the bandits are approaching the village to pillage their food, with Casserole gathering the village people into his own to reduce collateral damage. Of course, we later learned that the bandits are ex-cavalry who can use prisoners as human shields. What follows is an enticing battle involving Pastry and the villagers, including the children, fighting the bandits with slingshots. It is nothing too different from an isekai series, but it does make it the only episode so far that doesn’t involve any food. On the bright side, Pastry gets to use his replication spell to copy the burn marks onto the bandits’ faces. Now that’s a “sweet victory”. 

It was a treat having the first two episodes of Sweet Reincarnation debut this week to get a further grasp of its delectable concept. While I wasn’t entirely impressed with this recipe so far regarding its isekai formula and a few moments of cheap animation, the first two episodes were satisfying enough for me to try out its remaining servings. Part of the reason is the relationship between Pastry and his father, Casserole. While they show profound support and loyalty for each other, the father/son duo have different dreams that could impact their relationship in later episodes.  

Pastry dreams of being a patissier and making people happy with his “land of sweets”, while Casserole wants him to be the town’s protector. Of course, Pastry would have to accomplish his father’s dream of protecting the land and its people to fulfill his own. Since Pastry is keeping his food-related fantasy a secret, it’ll be interesting to see how long it’ll take for Casserole to discover the truth behind his son’s passion.